Since Addison, images of puffing and swelling had dominated the metaphorical language used to describe paper money, imagery which recurred in the windbags of “inflation” (from the Latin flare, to blow). Yet the same windy emptiness that had once signaled the deficiency of both Law’s paper securities and the assignats — their combination of legal tender and bonds in a single certificate — now defined the status of the notes issued by the London bank.